Applaud Aurora Seen
Free for personal use v. 0.90 - first public release, not test knit yet A stitch pattern designed to show off short color runs in space dyed yarn, plus construction suggestions for the advanced toe up sock knitter who knows what fits on his or her own foot. Sample designed in Wildfoote color "Rhapsody." Foot knit on size 0 needles for a smooth comfortable sole; back of heel and lower ankle on size 1, upper ankle size 1.5. The larger size needles were as much about finding a needle whose sharp tip would make the K2togs in row 1 without splitting into the purl bumps of row 8, as they were about preserving the graceful curve of the welts at changing circumferences. Instructions presume you are magic looping on one long circular 1. Make your favorite toe, casting on an odd number of stitches for the top side of the sock and a comparable number for the bottom of the sock.
2. Increase in your favorite method until the sock toe fits over your four largest toes. 3. Increase more stitches only on the top (and work straight on the bottom) until your top stitch count is at least 6 stitches bigger than the bottom - then keep increasing until the top stitch count is divisible by 9 (you need a wider top to compensate for the undulations) 4. Begin stitch pattern just on the top and not on the bottom 5. This is the stitch pattern, a condensed version of Mary Thomas's Welting Fantastic:
Rows 1-4 Knit 2 together, knit 1, knit front back, knit 1, knit front back, knit 1, knit 2 together through the back loop Rows 5-8 Purl all stitches Don't substitute a different increase, you need to do this every row and this increase is less of a struggle in such close quarters than other increases. 6. Continue in pattern, increasing for sock gusset as needed to fit your foot. You might want to start the gussets sooner than usual, since this stitch pattern pulls in nearly as much as jaywalkers \*and\* you don't want your foot to stretch out all the pretty welts. 7. When your gusset and foot length work for you , and after finishing a row 4, begin working your favorite toe up heel, fudged to produce a sock back that is a multiple of 9 stitches \*and\* if possible, will give you an even multiple of repeats all the way around. (if you can't get 8, 10 or 12 repeats around, then you will have to fudge the transition to ribbing at the end of the sock). As you come up the back of the heel feel free to move up a needle size. 8. When the back of the heel is finished and you are ready to resume knitting in the round, work rows 5-8 on all stitches. 9. Continue in pattern up the ankle. Move up a needle size if you like. 10. When you are running out of yarn, switch to 3x3 ribbing .. if you have an odd number of repeats and don't want to fudge the transition to ribbing, it's okay to have 6 knits or 6 purls somewhere in the rib repeat. 11. Weave in ends, block, take some pretty pix and post them online. Copyright 2010 Amy Seeberger. All rights reserved.
